Doing your dirty work by watching the worst movies imaginable

IN THEATERS (SF) – “Person to Person”

*Opens Friday, August 4, at the Landmark Opera Plaza in San Francisco and the Landmark Shattuck in Berkeley.

A scruffy little charmer from festival darling Defa, in the form of a smart indie ensemble piece about – what else? – mixed-up New Yorkers stumbling towards some sort of personal connection. Defa made his bones with short films (including a 2014 version of Person to Person that became his calling card), so it’s probably no surprise that the separate stories drift together and apart rather than neatly interlace: a shirt-obsessed record collector chases the punk who ripped him off; a tabloid reporter (Michael Cera) tries to impress a pretty news runner (Abbi Jacobson) on her first day; a hetero-curious teen connects with a cute boy; a watch repairman (Philip Baker Hall) tries not to get involved in his customers’ business; and a mopey revenge porn practitioner hides from his inevitable punishment. The various story threads loosely circle around a mysterious death and a possible femme fatale, but Defa is clearly more interested in exploring the souls of his characters than in any ostentatious narrative contortions. There are a handful of too-cute touches that occasionally make Person to Person feel more like an over-sized TV pilot, but the film has a huge heart and a sneaky sense of humor, and there is a propulsive musical energy that reminds you of vintage Alan Rudolph or Paul Mazursky.

Support the Show!

If you like the Dare Daniel podcast, help us grow the show by making a donation. Your generous contributions will help offset the costs of producing the podcast, as well as enable long-term projects like purchasing new equipment, producing additional content and creating merchandise. Make a one-time payment or set up a monthly subscription–any amount helps, and is greatly appreciated!